WAVE 2012 - with Jaromir and Ralf
Deutsch English
The preface
In Juli, Stefan (from Munich) and Ralf visited the yearly meeting of the drivers of electric vehicles in the Czech Republic, 80km South of Prague. The meeting has been organised by Jaromir Vegr, the president of the Czech EV club. The meeting was very inspiring. Around 40 EV drivers with various vehicles. From the self-made electric tractor made of wood, tuned motor-assisted bicycles, a self-made dune buggy from wood and sheet metal, several old PSA EVs and up to a Nissan Leaf, Mitsubishi iMiEV and a Fisker Karma - the first that I have seen live! Everybody was there, from the 16 year old pupil to the 70 years old retiree. A much better mix than in Germany.
At this meeting, we also saw the upgraded Peugeot 106 from Jaromir. He placed 80 cells 200Ah LiFePO from Thundersky. A total of 128V and 400Ah, 40s2p. WIth this vehicle, he made his record drive of 502km without recharge in June.
Jaromir wanted to join the WAVE with his upgraded Peugeot 106 (51kWh). Weeks after the meeting, he and Ralf had email contact and the plan was born that Ralf would be the second driver on the Peugeot for the WAVE 2012. No sooner said than done - we paid the participation fee and there was no way back!
Thursday, 06-Sep
Sedlec-Prčice - Regensburg
In the afternoon, Jaromir drove from his home in the Czech Republic to Regensburg - 280km without recharging. After arriving there, he directly went to the RWE charging station, using the type 2 connector which is freely available there. Ralf was still at work then but joined Jaromir soon. After the welcoming, we drove with Ralf's Saxo to his appartment and then for something to eat.
In the evening, the Peugeot was fully charged and we disconnected the chargers. To our surprise, we could not detach the type 2 connector from the station. We released the connector electrically and we did hear the relais switch off voltage and the blue light went off. Only the connector stayed where it was. A phone call with the hotline of RWE did not actually help. We were told that next day an electricion from RWE would come to the station and release our cable. He was supposed to give us a call then. I id not even try to explain that at this time we would be in Austria already. So we did not even start the long trip yet and we already lost one type 2 adaptor. Fortunately, this was not our only one.
In the evening, we packed our stuff and finalized the time schedule for the first day. We were really looking forward to the trip.
Friday, 07-Sep
Regensburg - Memmingerberg - Lustenau - Bellinzona - Chiasso - Mendrisio - Chiasso
In the morning, we packed the last adaptors and cables. Then around 7:45 we were already on the Autobahn direction South. Actually, we did not think that we would leave on time. Now we are a bit early - looks like we are highly motivated...
The first charging stop was planned at the airport Memmingen. The first 230km Autobahn went very well - not much traffic and enough trucks to give us a bit of slipstream. Arriving at the airport, we had to drive some diversion and newly constructed roads. Then we stood at the entrance and needed a while to actually spot the charging station. It was not clear how to get there as it is mounted outside of the Hertz car rental station. The entrance had a sign "Only for rental vehicles". Wonderful.
Wo entered anyway. After 230km the capacity was still 44%. Activating the charging station was done with the RFID card from ladenetz.de without any trouble and the chargers were happily humming. Now, the electric driver is happy. After this, we searched for somebody to explain how we can leave the parking afterwards. The car cleaner pointed us to the airport information, which of course needed to make some inquiry over phone first. Then, we were pointed to the parking information booth where somebody should be who could exchange the parking ticket after the charging.
We charged one hour only, then we went to the parking info booth. The guy knew how it works. The ticket handling for the charging station was never intended this way, but this is the only way it will work. But luckily not many people come for charging, he says...
After paying 1 EUR, we had the ticket for the exit. Pretty simple if you know how it works.
Now, the hour of truth came. Would the charging station actually release our type 2 connector? Luckily, it worked just as intended.
For noon, we arranged a charging stop in Lustenau (Austria), meeting with three Austrian EV drivers. In that city, there are several VLOTTE charging stations with two 16A three phase sockets each. A perfect fit for us. And of course we had the necessary adaptor from CEEplus to CEE. This first part of the planning worked just fine. The two Herberts guided us to the charging station and helped with the connection. So on the first day, we had several visitors and help already. This is how you enjoy driving EVs.
During the charging stop, we had time to eat lunch with Herbert, Herbert and Rudi. And of course we talked about EVs - as usual. Nice to see that our anouncement of the tour participation gathers so many EV drivers.
We charged the battery until the first cells started to balance - the capacity display then was at 96%. We then took of, directly onto the Swiss highway. We bought the sticker for 33 EUR. Driving was fast but there were no trucks on the road. So there was no slipstream for us to use.
Behind the San Bernardino tunnel, real fun began - always downhill. Give us mor of that! We then made a phone call to two friends from Switzerland which wanted to meet us at the highway. The meeting point was then the charging station of TexxEnergy at the roadhouse Belinzona-Nord - no detour for us. The station has plenty of plugs, 32A CEE-red, 16A CEE-red and a few others. It was reported that you can use all of them at the same time fully. The Swiss guys know how to build charging stations! Jaromir almost plugged in the chargers, but then we decided we do not need charging. It was only 60km more to the hotel and another 10km back to the charging stop in Mendrisio. So no charging and we continued. The electric Fiat 500 with Remo und Marco behind us.
Checking in at the hotel in Chiasso was quick and we continued to Mendrisio - to meet Louis and the others. On the way, we get a SMS from Louis - still at the Gotthard, with technical issues.
Arriving in Mendrisio, we immediately find the parking lot. And it proves to be the heaven for EV drivers - on the lot, there are two big boxes with plugs, each box contains a sum of 63A three-phase. And the best - there is only a Sam - all the plugs are available to us!
Die display now shows 43%, we only needed 53% for 253km. And this was packed with all the equipment, via the highway and through the San Bernadino. Not bad!
Connecting the chargers, the Peugeot is humming happily. Two hours should be more than enough. We then had 83% in the battery - more than enough to go to Genova without stopping inbetween. It was now half past midnight - so we disconnected the cables and drove to the hotel.
Saturday, 08-Sep
Chiasso - Genova
Exactly at 9:00, we were in the vehicle and programmed our navigation with the goal for the day - Genova. We started driving without the highways that we would need to pay for. After half an hour driving, we gave up this plan. Italy seems to consist of small villages, roundabouts and crazy small cars. Five minutes later, we were on the highway. FInally we could drive 90 km/h. The crazy small cars however continued to follow us. Every few kilometers, people wanted the highway fees from us. We were wondering to which amount this would add in the end. We did not care at that point in time - finally we were rolling with good speed without having to recuperate all the time.
The drive over the highway was really easy. At the end, we had paid 12,30 EUR only for the whole of the highway. We arrived around 12:30 at our destination. the harbour of Genova. Obviously, we were the first to arrive. A SMS from Louis confirmed this - they would be arriving in 90 minutes. So we parked in the shadow and sat outside of a restaurant, with a direct view over a part of the harbour onto the boats. Now it almost feels like a vacation. We are excited to see how it goes develops.
Around 14:00, other vehicles arrived. We then connected the chargers and checkin at the hotel. It was really luxurious - even though we would not actually use the bed for very long. We would start quite early tomorrow. And we would need to write this trip report (German, English and Czech).
In the late afternoon, the briefing took place. During the event, other participants did arrive - just like EV drivers do... ;-)
In the evening, we were invited to an italian restaurant at the harbour. But the day was not yet over. A few other participants and helpers did still arrive in Genova and needed some help.
I then showered, the first part of the report comes to an end and we need to get to bed - to be fit in the morning.
Sunday, 09-Sep
Genova - Asti - Torino
At 8, we met at the vehicles. There was a lot of photos, videos and interviews being made. Shortly after 9, we started to the tour - towards Asti. Louis did select a nice route through small mouuntain villages tover similarly small streets. The view from the top was really nice and we then continued on to Asti. There, we only connected the built-in Sagem charger. Later we walked into the city center together, where a big festivity was going on. Later, we were escorted by police motorcacles with all our vehicles into the city. We got a lot of attention from the local people - a real mass of people.
After dinner in the city, we started to the charging place. Directly at the first traffic light, we confused right with left and the other vehicles went the correct way. After 10 Minutes we reached the charging place and we were actually the first ones to arrive. The others arrived a few minutes later.
Unfortunately, we found out that the offered plugs were not compatible. They were 63A CEE plugs, but with only 4 pins and without neutral wire. This way, chargers with 230V would not work or could even be damaged. After a while, the issue got resolved by our technical team. The plan was to give everyone 16A one-phase only - no three-phase. After a while it was apparent that there were not enough plugs available. So we offered our plug to someone who needed it. After this day, we still had 64% left in the battery. That should be enough for more than 250km, even at elevated speeds. The plan for Monday however only had 209km and after 100km, there should be a recharging opportunity. Sometimes it is realy nice to have a big battery...
Monday, 10-Sep
Torino - Novara - Monza - Mendrisio
We got up at 6, were at the vehicles at 7 and half an hour later we departed to Novara. (We needed to wait because other participating vehicles were parked in front of us)
Leaving Torino, we had 20km of highway without fee - which at first we couldn't believe. Afterwards, we drove on country roads, always disrupted by roundabouts every 2 to 5 km. After some time i was getting tired of all these roundabouts and i said "Wouldn't it be great if there was a long stretch of road between the roundabouts?".
And sure enough - shortly later, the navigation showed 17km to the next roundabout. Sometimes small desires get fulfilled immediately.
In Novara we arrived where the navigation sent us. We did not come to a full stop yet and a police woman approached us. What we understood was that we obviously were in a pedestrian area where we are not allowed to go with the car. We just said "Teatro Coccio" - that is all the Italian we had. The police lady made it clear that we should follow her car. We cruised through the inner city this way, always getting more distance betweeen us and our destination. We thought we need to drive all of this back when the police is not looking anymore. But no - suddenly we saw a huge building and the scout vehicle came in sight. We were among the first there. So we quickly connected our three-phase charger to make use of the time. Even the biggest battery needs some recharge every now and then. Last evening, we did not get any electricity. Then we helped putting up the arrival gate.
In Novara there was no official programm, but a lot of people were at our vehicles anyway. After an hour of charging, we gave up our plug again - so that another team was able to charge. In the best EV driver tradition, we immediately were on the road again after packing in the cables - towards Monza. The drive was characterized by lots of traffic and a low average speed. Due to our early departure, we were among the first vehicles to park on the big square in front of the Monza cathedral. We were four vehicles there - alone on the square. Something must have gone wrong with the plan here. Ten minutes later, a friendly Italian with an Ampera arrived. He showed us the way - we followed him around a few corners to another suqaure just. If this was bad planning or just italian temperament - we will never know. These small problems every day seem to be the trademark of the WAVE.
Charging in Monza was somewhat difficult. There were plenty beautiful boxes with plugs - but the circuit breakres kept on switching off. It took around 30 minutes to get our vehicle charging. After another 30 minutes, the italian hosts decided that they needed our plug for another vehicle. It took another 30 minutes to make it work again for our vehicle. Nobody found out what exactly the problem was. As this never happended to our vehicle in any other location, we figured that it is not our vehicle creating the issue. We then got a city tour from a guide. As the weather was extremely sunny and hot, we were happy that the guided tour was not very long. At the end, we got a small snack. But everyone was checking the time already as the time schedule slipped again.
We left lunch early as we needed to be at our vehicle on time for the start of the challenge at 14:45. The goal was to drive from Monza to Mendrisio in less than 90 minutes. The distance was not very long (approx. 60km), but by now we knew the italian traffic where it is hard to get an average above 50 km/h. At the exact time, we disconnected the chargers and a minute later we were on the road. On this challenge, we were able to avoid highways with a fee. Around 16:00, we arrived at the charging site in Mendrisio - 15 minutes before the limit. We will then get the first 10 points for our team. At the arrival, a lot of pupils were welcoming us. Louis did give them a presentation about Solartaxi and the WAVE earlier in the day. In Mendrisio everything was very well prepared. The charging current was flowing without any issues, the hall was nicely decorated and hat several different electric vehicles inside and they had cool beverages. The battery had still solid 51% capacity left. What else would you ask for?
The driver of the Tesla asked us how we managed to make it to Mendrisio 15 minutes before the deadline and he didn't. And this even though we both started at the same time. Probably, the navigation quality was more important than the power of the engine. Such small victories brighten up the day!
Our Peugeot stands in full sunshine and the three-phase charger switches off every now and then, due to overheating.
During the dinner it was announced that todays challenge would not be counted due to charging problems and lots of traffic. So our first points in the challenge were only a good dream.
Tuesday, 11-Sep
Mendrisio - Bellinzona - San Bernardino - Buchs - Wildhaus
Yesterday evening it was less busy, we could go to sleep around 11 pm. We got up around 7 and at 8 we were already on the road towards Bellinzona. We took the highway as we have the sticker which states that we paid the fee for the highway use. In Bellinzona the navigation guided us a small road up a hill. At the end of the road we found out that this was actually a private road. So we turned around and drove back down. Back in the city below, we made several tries with the navigation to guide us to the Piazza del Sole. Unfortunately without any good result. Jaromir then asked somebody who gave us the right idea. This way we found the correct entry to the pedestrian area. The area where we assembled was directly on the foot of a vertical rock wall with a castle on top - a really nice view.
We then made our first small repair. We had an Ampere meter with coil. This has stopped working yesterday. After Jaromir removed it, we knew what smelled so funny during charging. We just shorted the terminals and are measuring the charging current with a clamp meter now.
Until now, the weather was always sunny. Without sun lotion, there was the danger of sunburn every day. The temperatures were very hot during the day and in the night it nicely cooled down again.
We drove towards San Bernardino. First over the highway, then over smaller streets with many sharp corners. Our deocumentary filmer made some videos of our vehicles whiel driving. He sat in the back of the T5 transporter with the back doors open. After this we met at San Bernardino. For a few vehicles, this was the intended charging stop. As far as we heard, there was actually only little energy available. We directly drove to the Restaurant La Terrazza where we met other participants. We then asked for the arranged Appero (snack). The people working in the restaurant knew about it, but we did not get anything to drink or eat. After a while of waiting, we gave up and just continued driving - we wanted to arrive on time.
We were a little above 1600 meters right now. Most of the vehicles chose the direct route through the San Bernardino tunnel. We decided to drive over the San Bernardino pass. We had no idea how high the mountain pass actualy is, but we did not want to miss this fun. It was foggy but the visibility was good enough to enjoy the vie into the valley. At the pass, saw 2067 meters on the GPS. The sign on the road says 2066 meters - we don't want to argue about one meter. After a few photos we drove down the other side. Of course, this was good for our battery. It was very nice driving all the curves - especially with the low traffic. We only met a few bicyclists, motorcaclists and cars. This route definetely was a good decision. When we arrived at the foot of the north side, we entered the highway again. It was still around 100km to Buchs. We arrived there on time a few minutes before 4 pm.
Charging in Buchs worked perfectly. Our scout team which always drives ahead did a perfect preparation job again. We got a welcome with cold drinks and grill. After a while, a bus brought us to the company Brusa - for a conducted tour. We had some light rain now which lastet the whole evening. After our return to Buchs we got a very good meal from the grill. After dinner we packed our charging cable and drove the 15km to our hotel. Driving there was quite exhausting. It was drizzling, it was completely dark and most of the route was on small roads uphill - we needed to go 500 meters up. The navigation guided us directly to the hotel - exactly as it should be!
But then it got interesting. Together with two other participants, we searched for the entry. There were several, but two of them had a sign saying that the entry would be at one of the other doors. And the third door was locked. Ringing the bell did not help - we have not seen anyone. A bit later, someone from the upper level talked to us through a window. He sent down the elevator. At the reception, everything was dark. There was a sign at the board with the keys, telling us which room numbers were reserved for our teams - self-service. Electricity in the rooms only worked after somebody had tried out all the switches on a switch board. We had warm water - so the shower in the morning should be possible.
The situation was a bit unexpected, but everything was ready for a good night.
The weather forecast for the next day was rain.
Wednesday, 12-Sep
Wildhaus - Mosnang - Urdorf - Schlieren - Steinhausen - Cham - Sins
For a few days now, we had hotels with no internet access. That means high cost for emails and uploads to the server because everything has to be transmitted over the cellphone.
As the hotel is closed in the summer season, no breakfast is offered of course. At 7:30 am, we drove to Mosnang, visiting a school. Louis did a presentation for the pupils. We parked our vehicles on the break area of the school. A nice breakfast has been offered to us. Afterwards, every team had a minute to talk about its car. Then the children had the chance to give points for each vehicle, depending on how much they like the vehicle. We are eager to find out how many points we got.
The morning weather was cold and rainy.
In Urdorf we stopped at a big Renault dealership. There they gave us a detailed presentation of their strategy towards electric mobility.
In Schlieren they had put up a tent for us where we could park a few of our vehicles. The rain had almost stopped but there was still a cold wind blowing. We then made a short walk to a technology center where lots of small companies are working on house automation.
In Steinhausen we visited Siemens.
In the evening we were invited to the Castle of Mr. Pacher. Directly located at the lake of Thun, this really is a castle as you imagine it. He lives in it with his family and a few years ago it has been renovated and technically updated - almost invisible. We spent the whole evening on the castle an had a lot of nice conservations in this good atmosphere.
Afterwards, the teams drove to different addresses for the overnight stay. Half of the teams stayed at families, the other half stayed at normal hotels. We drove to Sins to a small hotel.
Thursday, 13-Sep
Sins - Küssnacht - Stansstad - Steingletscher
In the morning, we drove to Küssnacht to a school, again with judging of our vehicles by the pupils. We got a breakfast at the school.
Next, we stopped in Stansstad. Here, we got a very good lunch.
After lunch it was clear that we could not drive over the Sustenpass as planned - the pass was closed due to first snow. Therefore, we drove uphill from the other side via Innertkirchen to Steingletscher. There is a hotel at 1800 meters, very lonely. At a height of 600 meters at the foot of the mountain, there was a possibility for charging. We did not use this and continued up the hill. We arrived first on the top of course. It was pretty cold and fortunately only little wind. The sundown produced wonderful light on the mountaintops. A very good place to be!
Most of the teams did sleep in multi-person rooms - which gave a feeling of a youth-hostel. The dinner was really good. The Suisse guys seem to want to fatten us. Later on, we watched the video from the WAVE 2011 with a beamer on a canvas. It was very interesting for the people who were not there in 2011 and full of memories for those who participated in 2011.
Friday, 14-Sep
Steingletscher - Interlaken - Thun - Bern
The alarm clock rang at 6:30 am. There was impressive mood of the light between the mountains again. After our usual morning routine, we headed downhill.First stop was Interlaken. There, we got a sightseeing tour with a train that rides with wheels on the road. Afterwards, we got a very tasty snack - lots of good stuff from the region.
In Thun we had gorgeous weather. Finally, we have sun and warm air again. The area where we arranged our vehicles was very close to the river Aare with its two arms. We made a sightseeing tour by foot. The inner city around the island between the two arms of the Aare is really worth seeing with all its old buildings, restaurants and Cafes.
Afterwards, we travelled to the Westside mall in Bern. There, we had the opportunity to assemble in a prominent place. We then went into the mall for the welcome event with a local politician for transportation. We got a nice snack as well. We are really being fattened. But we are not complaining - this way we do not need any more dinner.
In the Westside we got a real treat. Forrecreation after the first week of WAVE, we got free tickets to the spa and water park in the mall Complete with wild water ride and steam bath. That was perfect recovery. As you can see from this text, we also had internet access.
Closing the day, some of us went to the movies - also with free tickets.
Saturday, 15-Sep
Bern - Solothurn - Gelterkinden - Efringen-Kirchen
Getting up at 9 am, breakfast at 10. And everything without having to watch the clock. Very relaxing. At noon, we left Bern. The weather was great again - Ralf even needed sun cream.
Around 1 pm we arrived at Solothurn. Only the Citroen AX was already there. We started charging before the other vehicles arrived. That proved to be a good idea - afterwards, the plugs got rare and for a short time there was no electricity at all due to a circuit breaker being thrown. We got another sightseeing tour by foot in Solothurn.
At 6 pm we arrived in Gelterkirchen. Between 1985 and 1995, the first prototypes of the TWIKE were developed and prepared for series production there. Ralf Schnyder invited the WAVE. Besides the food from the grill, we got a very interesting slide show from the beginning of the TWIKE as well as future projects (not TWIKE). We had a nice evening and at 9 pm we drove to our hotels. Together with two other teams, we were in a small hotel in Efringen-Kirchen - Germany.
Sunday, 16-Sep
Efringen-Kirchen - Basel - Eimeldingen
We got up shortly before 8 am. After the breakfast we drove over the Autobahn back to Switzerland, to the trade fair in Basel.
The navigation sent us to the wrong side of the fair area. After a short time, we had found the area with our vehicles. During the morning, we had the official program followed by the joint lunch. The trade fair "Auto Basel", an automotive fair was taking place in parallel. SOme participants took the opportunity to test drive new electric vehicles there.
Afterwards, we had some free time in Basel. In a small group, we walked into the center of the city with the bridges over the river Rhine. We used a small ferry over the Rhine which was only propelled by the water stream. A steel rope was spanning the river. Over this rope was running a pulley whith a rope pulling the ferry. The ferry can be steered to either direction just by using the rudder.
In the evening, we left Switzerland. We drove to our next hotel in Germany, 10 kilometers behind the border. There in Efringen-Kirchen we quickly checked in. Ralf then drove the Peugeot to the charging in the city - to an area where the event would take place the next morning. After starting the charging, many teams met in a Straußenwirtschaft, a place where you get served food and beverages from a farm. We had Flammkuchen and "Neuer Wein" and we had a good evening. Ralf had to leave early as the Peugeot was almost finished charging.
Ralf then drove the Peugeot back to the hotel which was only 1.5 km away. In the hotel we had fast internet again, so there was an update of the report now.
As there was a question in the elweb bulletin board, you can now find a picture of the trailer hitch on the Peugeot. It could well be that this is the only electric vehicle with a trailer hitch in the Czech Republic.
Monday, 17-Sep
Eimeldingen - Freiburg - Schramberg - Strassbourg
Tuesday, 18-Sep
Strassburg - Karlsruhe - Mannheim - Feldberg - Oberursel
Wednesday, 19-Sep
Oberursel - Marburg - Rosenthal - Paderborn
Thursday, 20-Sep
Paderborn - Bad Pyrmont - Osnabrück - Leer
Friday, 21-Sep
Leer - Harlingen
The evening was nice and long - next morning, we felt another part of our slepp missing. At 8:30 am we were at the Denkmalsplatz in Leer - and we were the first participants again. Only a City-El driver was already there - Horst drove the 50km from Sande to Leer just to meet the WAVE.
In Leer we had another challenge - luggage space.
The picture on the side shows our tour director Louis cleaning up his trunk - even though he was not participating. But after almost two weeks touring across Europe every trunk needs a little cleanup.
At this challenge we finally could show one of the big advantages of our vehicle. Only the eWolf had more luggage space. So we got 9 points.
After lunch we had a photo session outside of Leer. The we were on the way to Harlingen - our first stop in the Netherlands.
The challenge for the afternoon was to assemble as many people as possible around our vehicle and make a photo of that. Who has the most people on the photo wins. That was not a challenge that Ralf liked. Jaromir on the other side was more open.
So haben wir eine Schule und einen Kindergarten abgeklappert, jedoch ohne Erfolg. Fündig wurden wir dann bei einem VW-Händler irgendwo in Winschoten. Jaromir hat den Chef dort überzeugt alle Mitarbeiter aus Werkstatt und Verkauf neben unserem Peugeot zu versammeln. So hatten wir zumindestens schon mal 10 Leute auf unserem Foto. Auf der Suche nach einer besseren Ausbeute haben wir dann noch bei Ikea in Groningen gestoppt, jedoch ohne Erfolg - die Leute dort waren einfach zu eilig.
Die Strecke nach Harlingen war mehr als 160km lang - mit unserer Suche haben wir etliche Kilometer hinzugefügt. Trotzdem haben wir es geschafft pünktlich um 18 Uhr anzukommen. Das Hotel für die Nacht war ein sehr altes Gebäude, mit krummen Türrahmen und einer engen und steilen Holztreppe. Ein Gebäude mit Charme. Und so sah auch das Zimmer aus. Das ist auch eine der Seiten der WAVE - jeden Tag eine Übernachtungsmöglichkeit mit ganz anderem Ambiente.
Das Abendessen haben wir erst spät eingenommen - nachdem fast alle Teilnehmer angekommen waren. Wie immer waren die Mia und der CitySax die beiden letzten Fahrzeuge. Verständlich bei so einer langen Etappe.
Später hatte dann noch jedes Team die Möglichkeit ein persönliches Resumee der WAVE zu ziehen - als kurze Rede vor allen Teilnehmern. Gemeinsam war die Klage über zu wenig Zeit. Gemeinsam war jedoch auch die große Begeisterung über die neu gefundenen Freunde und die Hilfsbereitschaft. Alles in Allem eine sehr positive Bilanz.
Heute hat ein Freund von Ralf (Hallo Karsten!) das Typ2-Kabel von Conrad abgeholt. Nun kann damit eigentlich nichts mehr schiefgehen. Wenn Jaromir am Montag nach Tschechien fährt kann er es wieder mitnehmen.
Saturday, 22-Sep
Harlingen - Amsterdam - Leverkusen - Wiesbaden
We got up at 7:30 am - Ralf did set the alarm clock wrong and we slept in 15 minutes. Nevertheless, we had plenty of time for breakfast. Then we walked over to the company where our vehicles did charge overnight. Jaromir finished the charging with an increased current and filled the last Ah into the battery to get us to 100% SOC. After a short photo session we finally got on the road at 9 am. So we already had our first 30 minutes delay. Driving in a convoi, we went to the dyke which separates this region from the Northern Sea. We had a special permit to actually drive onto the dyke on a road that is normally closed to the public. There we placed our vehicles in a nice line and made photos with the North Sea in the background.
Afterwards, we drove towards Amsterdam. We drove more than 20km on the dyke that separates the Ijselmeer from the North Sea. All the time the road went straight on, with pleasantly little traffic. And of course without any slopes. Between the highway and the main part of the dyke, there was a way for pedestrians and bicycles. There were remarkably many pedestrians walking towards Amsterdam. We did not see anyone walking in the other direction and there were only one or two bicyclists. Strange! Maybe this is an old Dutch tradition for Saturday mornings?
In Amsterdam, our navigation nicely guided us to the free university of Amsterdam. There, they had a few people placed at the main street to show us the way to the venue place. A very good first impression! So this is where the WAVE 2012 will find its end. On the way to our charging place, we drove pretty slow. Nevertheless we touched ground with the bottom of our Peugeot auf. A very disgusting noise - but nothing really happened. You drive all the way through Europe, crosses several mountain passes in the Alps and then this finally happens in one of the biggest cities of Europe...
Unfortunately, there were only very few visitors at the event. Nevertheless, there was a good mood between the participants - of course mixed with some thoughts that we are breaking up our WAVE companionship. As much as we were complaining about the stress over the last two weeks - we will definitely miss all the other teams!
After a small lunch, the winners cermony was on. The winners were Manfred with his Tesla, together with TWIKE 1 who had exactly the same number of points. TWIKE 2 was on the second place. If we counted correctly, we were on place 7 or 8. Not bad for a 12 year old series-production vehicle.
At the end, we were invited to a sightseeing tour, together with around 10 other participants. We used the Metro which runs by electricty of couurse. The other teams were already on their way back home. We saw at least one vehicle on a trailer - how awkward...! ;-)
The sightseeing tour in the center went from 2 pm until 4:30 pm. Amsterdam is a very vibrant city - you have to be careful to not be overrun by the rather agressive bicyclists. With the many water channels and the old houses, we really enjoyed the wonderful sunshine.
Around 5 pm we were on the highway from Amsterdam towards Germany. We made a short stop at the Drehstromkiste of Thomas in Leverkusen. The Peugeot got 16A three-phase and 16A AC (80A into the battery), we got Pizza at a Pizza delivery place nearby. Afterwards, we only had 170km to Wiesbaden, where we stayed at Ralf's parents for the night. Of course we had three-phase energy again.
Sunday, 23-Sep
Wiesbaden - Reifenberg - Regensburg
Today, we had time to sleep late. Of course, we both were awake before the alarm clock - the WAVE routine is deeply rooted in our bodies now. After a long breakfast, we disconnected the Peugeot from the wall socket - it was fully charged. The whole morning, we checked emails, wrote this report and whatever else we could not do over the last days. A really good recovery.
After lunch, we started over the Autobahn A3 towards East. We made a stop in Reifenberg at Roland Reichel. Jaromir and Roland know each other for several years. We stayed for two hours - many thanks to Roland for the chat, the food and of course also for the energy!
At 8:30 pm, we arrived in Regensburg. As two weeks before, we tried charging with the three HP power supplies. AGain without luck. We think that the current peak at switch-on is too high which results in throwing the circuit breaker each time we try. We then sorted our baggage and all the little things we collected during the two weeks.
Monday, 24-Sep
Regensburg - Sedlec-Prčice
During the night, the Peugeot should have been charged with the original charger of the Sagem-Box. Around 7 in the morning, there were only 55% in the battery. Später ist uns eingefallen daß die Sagembox im Peugeot keine Modifikation für die große Batterie hat - deshalb hat der interne Lader nach gut 110Ah abgeschaltet. Also nichts mit Ausschlafen - ab zur RWE-Säule bei Conrad Electronic. (Der Eine oder Andere erinnert sich eventuell noch an diese Säule?)
Dort angekommen gibt es also wieder Drehstrom und Wechselstrom gleichzeitig - 80A in die Batterie. Jaromir hat dann seine Navigation für die Rückreise programmiert und wir haben uns beim Bäcker noch ein kleines Frühstück geholt. Kurz nach 9 Uhr hat sich Jaromir dann auf den Weg nach Tschechien gemacht.
Die RWE-Säule hat mein Typ2-Kabel heute übrigens ohne Probleme entriegelt. So soll es sein!